HOME Secretary Priti Patel has been criticised for pulling out of appearing at the Police Superintendents\u2019 Association conference.<\/p>\n
The Home Secretary was supposed to speak in person at the conference on 14 September, but she sent a pre-recorded video instead, saying that she had \u201ccrucial votes\u201d in parliament.<\/p>\n
Ms Patel still hasn\u2019t responded to the Police Federation\u2019s concerns on pay, after the PFEW pulled out of the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB).<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: \u201cIn my view, this is a very childish way to deal with it. Police officers are daring to criticise the things that we\u2019ve got a right to be critical of and a right to be unhappy about, and there\u2019s no engagement from the Government in actually dealing with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to work together on this, whether we agree or disagree. There needs to be work done to try and make something fairer all round. I can\u2019t believe the Government would want this relationship to completely break down, because that\u2019s not going to help anybody. They need to start engaging with us, because this is quite an unprofessional and petty attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve criticised the way that the Government selectively picked which policing events to attend, but he said he thought they should continue to attend police memorial and bravery events, otherwise it would be \u201cpunishing officers\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe have to rise above it and be seen to be the people who actually want to contribute to the relationship. We need to keep trying to reopen that dialogue with our MPs and the Home Secretary, and keep that gentle pressure on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some MPs were on side with the police on the pay issue, Steve added. He said: \u201cNot everybody is united against us, thankfully.\u201d<\/p>\n
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